


A Song for Many Tails

by russian_blue



Category: Onmyouji | The Yin-Yang Master (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Seimei is a smirky mofo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 01:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4460417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/russian_blue/pseuds/russian_blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very special guest is visiting Seimei's house today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Song for Many Tails

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Franzeska](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Franzeska/gifts).



Minamoto no Hiromasa whistled cheerfully as he strolled down the Suzaku Ouji, the main boulevard of Heian-kyo, but he kept one wary eye on the sky. The weather today had been very peculiar, with rain falling even while the sun shone. Undoubtedly it was some kind of omen -- but of what, he didn't know. That was the kind of thing onmyoji interpreted, and although he had been friends with Abe no Seimei for quite some time, Hiromasa did not know one tenth of the arcane secrets in that man's mind.

He would soon have a chance to ask. Following the familiar path out of the city, he soon arrived at the great onmyoji's house. When he neared the gate, however, he heard sounds from within. Voices -- quite a lot of them. It seemed his friend had guests.

But the gate swung open when he approached, suggesting they would not mind additional visitors. Hiromasa stopped to make certain his robes were in order and straighten his hat before he pushed the gate open and called out, "Please pardon the intrusion!"

No one was in the entry courtyard, but voices led him onward. Rounding the side of the house to reach the garden, Hiromasa found there were easily a dozen people there. Men and women alike, strolling in the garden or lounging upon the verandah -- and every last one of them pivoted sharply at his entrance, their laughter cutting off as if severed by a sword.

Hiromasa froze. Then he made himself bow, courteously, though he never took his eyes off the gathered people. There was something . . . odd about them, and the way they watched him. As if deciding whether to bolt for cover.

Seimei broke the tableau. He rose from where he sat, that characteristic smile upon his face -- the sly smirk, the one that said he was terribly amused by something. It was always a guessing game, whether anyone else could even figure out what amused him. "My friend!" he said, beckoning Hiromasa forward. "You've come at just the right time. We are celebrating. Please, allow me to present you to the Lady Kuzunoha."

The lady in question sat next to Seimei, with no curtain to shield her from a stranger's eyes. Hiromasa could not begin to estimate her age; at one moment he thought her a girl of barely sixteen, but at the next, she might have been an elegant matron of thirty. She smiled when he bowed to her -- and it was the smile that did it, for he had seen that expression more times than he could count.

To Seimei he said, "Is this lady your sister?"

It made the onmyoji laugh. "My sister? No. Not at all."

Not his daughter. A cousin, perhaps. Or --

"Your mother," Hiromasa breathed.

"Indeed," Seimei said. "And we are celebrating her wedding. Today she is married -- again. She does that occasionally."

There were still puddles upon the flat stones of the garden, leaves dripping in the brilliant sunlight. And Hiromasa, seeing those, seeing the ageless Lady Kuzunoha, remembered a rumour that had gone around court some time ago. A rumour which whispered that Abe no Seimei was not entirely human . . . that his mother was a kitsune.

When the sun shone while rain fell, they said it meant that foxes were getting married.

He bowed again, more deeply this time. Were those tails, peeking out from under the lady's beautifully layered robes? He would not look. "I am honored to meet you, Lady Kuzunoha. May the gods bless you on this day, and all the days to come." For a spirit like her, those days might last until the end of time.

"He speaks very prettily," she said to her son. "It is a good thing he did not show up earlier, during the wedding. It would have been a pity to kill him."

Hiromasa laughed heartily. Then he stopped, because he realized she wasn't joking.

Seimei smiled again. "A pity indeed. You have not even heard his flute-playing yet. Hiromasa -- would you oblige us with a tune?"

Everyone in the garden was still watching. Watching, and still: they had the silent readiness of wild animals, not moving so much as a finger, except to watch Hiromasa as he fumbled inside his robes to locate his flute. He had a dreadful feeling that every last one of them was a fox.

But he had played for stranger audiences before. That was life in the vicinity of Abe no Seimei. And so he bowed once more to Lady Kuzunoha, placed the flute against his lips, and played as if his life depended on his success.

It probably didn't. But just in case . . . .

**Author's Note:**

> I always love finding someone else who knows these movies!


End file.
